payment of rates, and occupation franchise for the counties
subject to the same limitation, and a variety of fanciful
clauses, which would have admitted members of the liberal
professions, graduates of the universities, and a number of
other classes to the franchise. The most novel feature was a
clause which permitted a man to acquire two votes if he
possessed a double qualification by rating and by profession.
The great objection to the bill was that it excluded the
compound householder.' The compound householder is now as
extinct an animal as the potwalloper found in earlier
parliamentary strata, but he was the hero of the Reform
debates of 1867, and as such deserves more than a passing
reference. He was, in fact, an occupier of a small house who
did not pay his rates directly and in person, but paid them
through his landlord. Now the occupiers of these very small
houses were naturally by far the most numerous class of
occupiers in the boroughs, and the omission of them implied a
large exclusion from the franchise. The Liberal party,
therefore, rose in defence of the compound householder, and
the struggle became fierce and hot. It must be remembered,
however, that neither Mr. Gladstone nor Mr. Bright wished to
lower the franchise beyond a certain point, and a meeting was
held in consequence, in which it was agreed that the programme
brought forward in committee should begin by an alteration of
the rating laws, so that the compound householder above a
certain level should pay his own rates and be given a vote,
and that all occupiers below the level should be excluded from
the rates and the franchise alike. On what may be described
roughly as 'the great drawing-the-line question,' however, the
Liberal party once more split up. The advanced section were
determined that all occupiers should be admitted, and they
would have no 'drawing the line.' Some fifty or sixty of them
held a meeting in the tea-room of the House of Commons and
decided on this course of action: in consequence they acquired
the name of the 'Tea-Room Party.' The communication of their
views to Mr. Gladstone made him excessively indignant. He
denounced them in violent language, and his passion was
emulated by Mr. Bright. ... Mr. Gladstone had to give in, and
his surrender was followed by that of Mr. Disraeli. The
Tea-Room Party, in fact, were masters of the day, and were
able to bring sufficient pressure to bear on the Government to
induce them to admit the principle of household suffrage pure
and simple, and to abolish all distinctions of rating. ... Not
only was the household suffrage clause considerably extended,
the dual vote abolished, and most of the fancy franchises
swept away, but there were numerous additions which completely
altered the character of the bill, and transformed it from a
balanced attempt to enlarge the franchise without shifting the
balance of power to a sweeping measure of reform."
B. C. Skottowe,
Short History of Parliament,
chapter 22.
{969}
The Reform Bill for England "was followed in 1868 by measures
for Scotland and Ireland. By these Acts the county franchise
in England was extended to all occupiers of lands or houses of
the yearly value of £12, and in Scotland to all £5 property
owners and £14 property occupiers; while that in Ireland was
not altered. The borough franchise in England and Scotland was
given to all ratepaying householders and to lodgers occupying
lodgings of the annual value of £10; and in Ireland to all
ratepaying £4 occupiers. Thus the House of Commons was made
nearly representative of all taxpaying commoners, except
agricultural labourers and women."
D. W. Rannie,
Historical Outline of the English Constitution,
chapter 12, section 4.
ALSO IN:
W. BAGEHOT,
Essays on Parliamentary Reform, 3.
G. B. Smith,
Life of Gladstone,
chapters 17-18 (volume 2).
W. Robertson,
Life and Times of John Bright,
chapters 39-40.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1865-1869.
Discussion of the Alabama Claims of the United States.
The Johnson-Clarendon Treaty and its rejection.
See ALABAMA CLAIMS: A. D. 1862-1869.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1867-1868.
Expedition to Abyssinia.
See ABYSSINIA: A. D. 1854-1889.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1868-1870.
Disestablishment of the Irish Church.
Retirement of the Derby-Disraeli Ministry.
Mr. Gladstone in power.
His Irish Land Bill.
"On March 16, 1868, a remarkable debate took place in the
House of Commons. It had for its subject the condition of
Ireland, and it was introduced by a series of resolutions
which Mr. John Francis Maguire, an Irish member, proposed. ...
It was on the fourth night of the debate that the importance
of the occasion became fully manifest. Then it was that Mr.
Gladstone spoke, and declared that in his opinion the time had
come when the Irish Church as a State institution must cease
to exist. Then every man in the House knew that the end was
near. Mr. Maguire withdrew his resolutions. The cause he had
to serve was now in the hands of one who, though not surely
more earnest for its success, had incomparably greater power
to serve it. There was probably not a single Englishman
capable of forming an opinion who did not know that from the
moment when Mr. Gladstone made his declaration, the fall of
the Irish State Church had become merely a question of time.
Men only waited to see how Mr. Gladstone would proceed to
procure its fall. Public expectation was not long kept in
suspense. A few days after the debate on Mr. Maguire's motion,
Mr. Gladstone gave notice of three resolutions on the subject
of the Irish State Church. The first declared that in the
opinion of the House of Commons it was necessary that the
Established Church of Ireland should cease to exist as an
Establishment, due regard being had to all personal interests
and to all individual rights of property. The second
resolution pronounced it expedient to prevent the creation of
new personal interests by the exercise of any public
patronage; and the third asked for an address to the Queen,
praying that Her Majesty would place at the disposal of
Parliament her interest in the temporalities of the Irish
Church. The object of these resolutions was simply to prepare
for the actual disestablishment of the Church, by providing
that no further appointments should be made, and that the
action of patronage should be stayed, until Parliament should
decide the fate of the whole institution. On March 30, 1868,
Mr. Gladstone proposed his resolutions. Not many persons could
have had much doubt as to the result of the debate. But if
there were any such, their doubts must have begun to vanish
when they read the notice of amendment to the resolutions
which was given by Lord Stanley. The amendment proclaimed even
more surely than the resolutions the impending fall of the Irish
Church. Lord Stanley must have been supposed to speak in the
name of the Government and the Conservative party; and his
amendment merely declared that the House, while admitting that
considerable modifications in the temporalities of the Church
in Ireland might appear to be expedient, was of opinion 'that
any proposition tending to the disestablishment or
disendowment of the Church ought to be reserved for the
decision of the new Parliament.' Lord Stanley's amendment
asked only for delay. ... The debate was one of great power
and interest. ... When the division was called there were 270
votes for the amendment, and 331 against it. The doom of the
Irish Church was pronounced by a majority of 61. An interval
was afforded for agitation on both sides. ... Mr. Gladstone's
first resolution came to a division about a month after the
defeat of Lord Stanley's amendment. It was carried by a
majority somewhat larger than that which had rejected the
amendment--330 votes were given for the resolution; 265
against it. The majority for the resolution was therefore 65.
Mr. Disraeli quietly observed that the Government must take
some decisive step in consequence of that vote; and a few days
afterwards it was announced that as soon as the necessary
business could be got through, Parliament would be dissolved
and an appeal made to the country. On the last day of July the
dissolution took place, and the elections came on in November.
Not for many years had there been so important a general
election. The keenest anxiety prevailed as to its results. The
new constituencies created by the Reform Bill were to give
their votes for the first time. The question at issue was not
merely the existence of the Irish State Church. It was a
general struggle of advanced Liberalism against Toryism. ...
The new Parliament was to all appearance less marked in its
Liberalism than that which had gone before it. But so far as
mere numbers went the Liberal party was much stronger than it
had been. In the new House of Commons it could count upon a
majority of about 120, whereas in the late Parliament it had
but 60. Mr. Gladstone it was clear would now have everything
in his own hands, and the country might look for a career of
energetic reform. ... Mr. Disraeli did not meet the new
Parliament as Prime Minister. He decided very properly that it
would be a mere waste of public time to wait for the formal
vote of the House of Commons, which would inevitably command
him to surrender. He at once resigned his office, and Mr.
Gladstone was immediately sent for by the Queen, and invited
to form an Administration. Mr. Gladstone, it would seem, was
only beginning his career. He was nearly sixty years of age,
but there were scarcely any evidences of advancing years to be
seen on his face. ... The Government he formed was one of
remarkable strength. ... Mr. Gladstone went to work at once
with his Irish policy.
{970}
On March 1, 1869, the Prime Minister introduced his measure
for the disestablishment and partial disendowment of the Irish
State Church. The proposals of the Government were, that the
Irish Church should almost at once cease to exist as a State
Establishment, and should pass into the condition of a free
Episcopal Church. As a matter of course the Irish bishops were
to lose their seats in the House of Lords. A synodal, or
governing body, was to be elected from the clergy and laity of
the Church and was to be recognised by the Government, and
duly incorporated. The union between the Churches of England
and Ireland was to be dissolved, and the Irish Ecclesiastical
Courts were to be abolished. There were various and
complicated arrangements for the protection of the life
interests of those already holding positions in the Irish
Church, and for the appropriation of the fund which would
return to the possession of the State when all these interests
had been fairly considered and dealt with. ... Many amendments
were introduced and discussed; and some of these led to a
controversy between the two Houses of Parliament; but the
controversy ended in compromise. On July 26, 1869, the measure
for the disestablishment of the Irish Church received the
royal assent. Lord Derby did not long survive the passing of
the measure which he had opposed with such fervour and so much
pathetic dignity. Be died before the Irish State Church had
ceased to live. ... When the Irish Church had been disposed
of, Mr. Gladstone at once directed his energies to the Irish
land system. ... In a speech delivered by him during his
electioneering campaign in Lancashire, he had declared that
the Irish upas-tree had three great branches: the State
Church, the Land Tenure System, and the System of Education,
and that he meant to hew them all down if he could. On
February 15, 1870, Mr. Gladstone introduced his Irish Land
Bill into the House of Commons. ... It recognised a certain
property or partnership of the tenant in the land which he
tilled. Mr. Gladstone took the Ulster tenant-right as he found
it, and made it a legal institution. In places where the
Ulster practice, or something analogous to it, did not exist,
he threw upon the landlord the burden of proof as regarded the
right of eviction. The tenant disturbed in the possession of
his land could claim compensation for improvements, and the
bill reversed the existing assumption of the law by presuming
all improvements to be the property of the tenant, and leaving
it to the landlord, if he could, to prove the contrary. The
bill established a special judiciary machinery for carrying
out its provisions. ... It put an end to the reign of the
landlord's absolute power; it reduced the landlord to the
level of every other proprietor, of every other man in the
country who had anything to sell or hire. ... The bill passed
without substantial alteration. On August 1, 1870, the bill
received the Royal assent. The second branch of the upas-tree
had been hewn down. ... Mr. Gladstone had dealt with Church
and land; he had yet to deal with university education. He had
gone with Irish ideas thus far."
J. McCarthy,
Short History of Our Own Times,
chapter 23.
ALSO IN:
W. N. Molesworth,
History of England, 1830-1874,
volume 3, chapter 6.
Annual Register, 1869,
part 1: English History,
chapters 2-3, and 1870, chapters 1-2.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1870.
The Education Bill.
See EDUCATION, MODERN: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES,
ENGLAND: A. D. 1699-1870.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1871.
Abolition of Army Purchase and University Religious Tests.
Defeat of the Ballot Bill.
"The great measure of the Session [of 1871] was of course the
Army Bill, which was introduced by Mr. Cardwell, on the 16th
of February. It abolished the system by which rich men
obtained by purchase commissions and promotion in the army,
and provided £8,000,000 to buy all commissions, as they fell
in, at their regulation and over-regulation value [the
regulation value being a legal price, fixed by a Royal
Warrant, but which in practice was never regarded]. In future,
commissions were to be awarded either to those who won them by
open competition, or who had served as subalterns in the
Militia, or to deserving non-commissioned officers. ... The
debate, which seemed interminable, ended in an anti-climax
that astonished the Tory Opposition. Mr. Disraeli threw over
the advocates of Purchase, evidently dreading an appeal to the
country. ... The Army Regulation Bill thus passed the Second
Reading without a division," and finally, with some amendments
passed the House. "In the House of Lords the Bill was again
obstructed. ... Mr. Gladstone met them with a bold stroke. By
statute it was enacted that only such terms of Purchase could
exist as her Majesty chose to permit by Royal Warrant. The
Queen, therefore, acting on Mr. Gladstone's advice, cancelled
her warrant permitting Purchase, and thus the opposition of
the Peers was crushed by what Mr. Disraeli indignantly termed
'the high-handed though not illegal' exercise of the Royal
Prerogative. The rage of the Tory Peers knew no bounds." They
"carried a vote of censure on the Government, who ignored it,
and then their Lordships passed the Army Regulation Bill
without any alterations. ... The Session of 1871 was also made
memorable by the struggle over the Ballot Bill, in the course
of which nearly all the devices of factious obstruction were
exhausted. ... When the Bill reached the House of Lords, the
real motive which dictated the ... obstruction of the
Conservative Opposition in the House of Commons was quickly
revealed. The Lords rejected the Bill on the 18th of August,
not merely because they disliked and dreaded it, but because
it had come to them too late for proper consideration.
Ministers were more successful with some other measures. In
spite of much conservative opposition they passed a Bill
abolishing religious tests in the Universities of Oxford and
Cambridge, and throwing open all academic distinctions and
privileges except Divinity Degrees and Clerical Fellowships to
students of all creeds and faiths."
R. Wilson,
Life and Times of Queen Victoria,
volume 2, chapter 16.
ALSO IN:
G. W. E. Russell,
The Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone,
chapter 9.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1871-1872.
Renewed negotiations with the United States.
The Treaty of Washington and the Geneva Award.
See ALABAMA CLAIMS: A. D. 1869-1871; 1871; and 1871-1872.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1873-1879.
Rise of the Irish Home Rule Party
and organization of the Land League.
See IRELAND: A. D. 1873-1879.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1873-1880.
Decline and fall of the Gladstone government.
Disraeli's Ministry.
His rise to the peerage, as Earl of Beaconsfield.
The Eastern Question.
Overthrow of the administration.
The Second Gladstone Ministry.
{971}
"One of the little wars in which we had to engage broke out
with the Ashantees, a misunderstanding resulting from our
purchase of the Dutch possessions (1873) in their
neighbourhood. Troops and marines under Wolseley ... were sent
out to West Africa. Crossing the Prah River, January 20th,
1874, he defeated the Ashantees on the last day of that month
at a place called Amoaful, entered and burnt their capital,
Coomassie, and made a treaty with their King, Koffee, by which
he withdrew all claims of sovereignty over the tribes under
our protection. The many Liberal measures carried by the
Ministry caused moderate men to wish for a halt. Some
restrictions on the licensed vintners turned that powerful
body against the Administration, which, on attempting to carry
an Irish University Bill in 1873, became suddenly aware of its
unpopularity, as the second reading was only carried by a
majority of three. Resignation followed. The erratic, but
astute, Disraeli declined to undertake the responsibility of
governing the country with the House of Commons then existing,
consequently Mr. Gladstone resumed office; yet Conservative
reaction progressed. He in September became Chancellor of the
Exchequer (still holding the Premiership) and 23rd January,
1874, he suddenly dissolved Parliament, promising in a letter
to the electors of Greenwich the final abolition of the income
tax, and a reduction in some other 'imposts.' The elections
went against him. The 'harassed' interests overturned the
Ministry (17th February, 1874). ... On the accession of the
Conservative Government under Mr. Disraeli (February, 1874),
the budget showed a balance of six millions in favour of the
reduction of taxation. Consequently the sugar duties were
abolished and the income tax reduced to 2d. in the pound.
This, the ninth Parliament of Queen Victoria, sat for a little
over six years. ... Mr. Disraeli, now the Earl of Beaconsfield,
was fond of giving the country surprises. One of these
consisted in the purchase of the interest of the Khedive of
Egypt in the Suez Canal for four millions sterling (February,
1876). Another was the acquisition of the Turkish Island of
Cyprus, handed over for the guarantee to Turkey of her Asiatic
provinces in the event of any future Russian encroachments.
... As war had broken out in several of the Turkish provinces
(1876), and as Russia had entered the lists for the insurgents
against the Sultan, whom England was bound to support by
solemn treaties, we were treated to a third surprise by the
conveyance, in anticipation of a breach with Russia, of 7,000
troops from India to Malta. The Earl of Derby, looking upon
this manœuvre as a menace to that Power, resigned his office,
which was filled by Lord Salisbury (1878). ... The war proving
disastrous to Turkey, the treaty of St. Stephano (February,
1878), was concluded with Russia, by which the latter acquired
additional territory in Asia Minor in violation of the treaty
of Paris (1856). Our Government strongly remonstrated, and war
seemed imminent. Through the intercession, however, of
Bismarck, the German Chancellor, war was averted, and a
congress soon met in Berlin, at which Britain was represented
by Lords Salisbury and Beaconsfield; the result being the
sanction of the treaty already made, with the exception that
the town of Erzeroum was handed back to Turkey. Our
ambassadors returned home rather pompously, the Prime Minister
loftily declaring, that they had brought back 'peace with
honour.' ... Our expenses had rapidly increased, the wealthy
commercial people began to distrust a Prime Minister who had
brought us to the brink of war, the Irish debates, Irish
poverty, and Irish outrages had brought with them more or less
discredit on the Ministry. ... The Parliament was dissolved March
24th, but the elections went so decisively in favour of the
Liberals that Beaconsfield resigned (April 23rd). Early in the
following year he appeared in his place in the House of Peers,
but died April 19th. Though Mr. Gladstone had in 1875
relinquished the political leadership in favour of Lord
Hartington yet the 'Bulgarian Atrocities' and other writings
brought him again so prominent before the public that his
leadership was universally acknowledged by the party. ... He
now resumed office, taking the two posts so frequently held
before by Prime Ministers since the days of William Pitt, who
also held them. ... The result of the general election of 1880
was the return of more Liberals to Parliament than
Conservatives and Home Rulers together. The farming interest
continued depressed both in Great Britain and Ireland,
resulting in thousands of acres being thrown on the landlords'
hands in the former country, and numerous harsh evictions in the
latter for non-payment of rent. Mr. Gladstone determined to
legislate anew on the Irish Land Question: and (1881) carried
through both Houses that admirable measure known as the Irish
Land Act, which for the first time in the history of that
country secured to the tenant remuneration for his own
industry. A Land Commission Court was established to fix Fair
Rents for a period of 15 years. After a time leaseholders were
included in this beneficent legislation."
R. Johnston,
A Short History of the Queen's Reign,
pages 49-57.
ALSO IN:
J. A. Froude,
Lord Beaconsfield,
chapters 16-17.
G. B. Smith,
Life of Gladstone,
chapters 22-28 (volume 2).
H. Jephson,
The Platform,
chapters 21-22 (volume 2).
ENGLAND: A. D. 1877.
Assumption by the Queen of the title of Empress of India.
See INDIA: A. D. 1877.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1877-1878.
The Eastern Question again.
Bulgarian atrocities.
Excitement over the Russian successes in Turkey.
War-clamor of "the Jingoes."
The fleet sent through the Dardanelles.
Arrangement of the Berlin Congress.
See BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: A. D. 1875-1878;
and TURKS: A. D. 1878.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1877-1881.
Annexation of the Transvaal.
The Boer War.
See SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1806-1881.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1878.
The Congress of Berlin.
Acquisition of the control of Cyprus.
See TURKS: A. D. 1878.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1878-1880.
The second Afghan War.
See AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1869-1881.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1880.
Breach between the Irish Party and the English Liberals.
See IRELAND: A. D. 1880.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1882.
War in Egypt.
Bombardment of Alexandria.
Battle of Tel-el-Kebir.
See EGYPT: A. D. 1875-1882, and 1882-1883.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1883.
The Act for Prevention of Corrupt and Illegal Practices at
Parliamentary Elections.
{972}
"Prior to the General Election of 1880 there were those who
hoped and believed that Corrupt Practices at Elections were
decreasing. These hopes were based upon the growth of the
constituencies and their increased political intelligence, and
also upon the operation of the Ballot Act. The disclosures
following the General Election proved to the most sanguine
that this belief was an error. Corrupt practices were found to
be more prevalent than ever. If in olden times larger
aggregate sums were expended in bribery and treating, never
probably had so many persons been bribed and treated as at the
General Election of 1880. After that election nineteen
petitions against returns on the ground of corrupt practices
were presented. In eight instances the Judges reported that
those practices had extensively prevailed, and in respect of
seven of these the reports of the Commissioners appointed
under the Act of 1852 demonstrated the alarming extent to
which corruption of all kinds had grown. ... A most serious
feature in the Commissioners' Reports was the proof they
afforded that bribery was regarded as a meritorious not as a
disgraceful act. Thirty magistrates were reported as guilty of
corrupt practices and removed from the Commission of the Peace
by the Lord Chancellor. Mayors, aldermen, town-councillors,
solicitors, the agents of the candidates, and others of a like
class were found to have dealt with bribery as if it were a
part of the necessary machinery for conducting an election.
Worst of all, some of these persons had actually attained
municipal honours, not only after they had committed these
practices, but even after their misdeeds had been exposed by
public inquiry. The Reports also showed, and a Parliamentary
Return furnished still more conclusive proof, that election
expenses were extravagant even to absurdity, and moreover were
on the increase. The lowest estimate of the expenditure during
the General Election of 1880 amounts to the enormous sum of
two and a half millions. With another Reform Bill in view, the
prospects of future elections were indeed alarming. ... The
necessity for some change was self-evident. Public opinion
insisted that the subject should be dealt with, and the evil
encountered. ... The Queen's Speech of the 6th of January,
1881, announced that a measure 'for the repression of corrupt
practices' would be submitted to Parliament, and on the
following day the Attorney-General (Sir Henry James), in
forcible and eloquent terms, moved for leave to introduce his
Bill. His proposals (severe as they seemed) were received with
general approval and sympathy, both inside and outside the
House of Commons, at a time when members and constituents
alike were ashamed of the excesses so recently brought to
light. It is true that the two and a half years' delay that
intervened between the introduction of the Bill and its
finally becoming law (a delay caused by the necessities of
Irish legislation), sufficed very considerably to cool the
enthusiasm of Parliament and the public. Yet enough desire for
reform remained to carry in July 1883 the Bill of January
1881, modified indeed in detail, but with its principles
intact and its main provisions unaltered. The measure which
has now become the Parliamentary Elections Act of 1883, was in
its conception pervaded by two principles. The first was to
strike hard and home at corrupt practices; the second was to
prohibit by positive legislation any expenditure in the
conduct of an election which was not absolutely necessary.
Bribery, undue influence, and personation, had long been
crimes for which a man could be fined and imprisoned. Treating
was now added to the same class of offences, and the
punishment for all rendered more deterrent by a liability to
hard labour. ... Besides punishment on conviction,
incapacities of a serious character are to result from a
person being reported guilty of corrupt practices by Election
Judges or Election Commissioners. ... A candidate reported
personally guilty of corrupt practices can never sit again for
the same constituency, and is rendered incapable of being a
member of the House of Commons for seven years. All persons,
whether candidates or not, are, on being reported, rendered
incapable of holding any public office or exercising any
franchise for the same period. Moreover, if any persons so
found guilty are magistrates, barristers, solicitors, or
members of other honourable professions, they are to be
reported to the Lord Chancellor, Inns of Court, High Court of
Justice, or other authority controlling their profession, and
dealt with as in the case of professional misconduct. Licensed
victuallers are, in a similar manner, to be reported to the
licensing justices, who may on the next occasion refuse to
renew their licenses. ... The employment of all paid
assistants except a very limited number is forbidden; no
conveyances are to be paid for, and only a restricted number
of committee rooms are to be engaged. Unnecessary payments for
the exhibition of bills and addresses, and for flags, bands,
torches, and the like are declared illegal. But these
prohibitions of specific objects were not considered
sufficient. Had these alone been enacted, the money of wealthy
and reckless candidates would have found other channels in
which to flow. ... And thus it was that the 'maximum scale'
was adopted as at once the most direct and the most
efficacious means of limiting expenditure. Whether by himself
or his agents, by direct payment or by contract, the candidate
is forbidden to spend more in 'the conduct and management of
an election' than the sums permitted by the Act, sums which
depend in each case on the numerical extent of the
constituency."
H. Hobhouse,
The Parliamentary Elections
(Corrupt and Illegal Practices) Act, 1883,
pages 1-8.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1884-1885.
The Third Reform Bill and the Redistribution Bill.
The existing qualifications and disqualifications
of the Suffrage.
"Soon after Mr. Gladstone came into power in 1880, Mr.
Trevelyan became a member of his Administration. Already the
Premier had secured the co-operation of two other men new to
office--Mr. Chamberlain and Sir Charles Dilke. ... Their
presence in the Administration was looked upon as a good
augury by the Radicals, and the augury was not destined to
prove misleading. It was understood from the first that, with
such men as his coadjutors, Mr. Gladstone was pledged to a
still further Reform. He was pledged already, in fact, by his
speeches in Midlothian. ... On the 17th of October, 1883, a
great Conference was held at Leeds, for the purpose of
considering the Liberal programme for the ensuing season. The
Conference was attended by no fewer than 2,000 delegates, who
represented upwards of 500 Liberal Associations.
{973}
It was presided over by Mr. John Morley. ... To a man the
delegates agreed as to the imperative necessity of household
suffrage being extended to the counties; and almost to a man
they agreed also as to the necessity of the measure being no
longer delayed. ... When Parliament met on the 5th of the
following February ... a measure for 'the enlargement of the
occupation franchise in Parliamentary Elections throughout the
United Kingdom' was distinctly promised in the Royal Speech;
and the same evening Mr. Gladstone gave notice that 'on the
first available day,' he would move for leave to bring in the
bill. So much was the House of Commons occupied with affairs
in Egypt and the Soudan, however, that it was not till the
29th of February that the Premier was able to fulfil his
pledge." Four months were occupied in the passage of the bill
through the House of Commons, and when it reached the Lords it
was rejected. This roused "an intense feeling throughout the
country. On the 21st of July, a great meeting was held in Hyde
Park, attended, it was believed, by upwards of 100,000
persons. ... On the 30th of July, a great meeting of delegates
was held in St. James's Hall, London. ... Mr. John Morley, who
presided, used some words respecting the House that had
rejected the bill which were instantly caught up by Reformers
everywhere. 'Be sure,' he said, 'that no power on earth can
separate henceforth the question of mending the House of
Commons from the question of mending, or ending, the House of
Lords.' On the 4th of August, Mr. Bright, speaking at
Birmingham, referred to the Lords as 'many of them the spawn
of the plunder and the wars and the corruption of the dark
ages of our country'; and his colleague, Mr. Chamberlain, used
even bolder words: 'During the last one hundred years the
House of Lords has never contributed one iota to popular
liberties or popular freedom, or done anything to advance the
common weal; and during that time it has protected every abuse
and sheltered every privilege. ... It is irresponsible without
independence, obstinate without courage, arbitrary without
judgment, and arrogant without knowledge.' ... In very many
instances, a strong disposition was manifested to drop the
agitation for the Reform of the House of Commons for a time,
and to concentrate the whole strength of the Liberal party on
one final struggle for the Reform (or, preferably, the
extinction) of the Upper House." But Mr. Gladstone gave no
encouragement to this inclination of his party. The outcome of
the agitation was the passage of the Franchise Bill a second time
in the House of Commons, in November, 1884, and by the Lords
soon afterwards. A concession was made to the latter by
previously satisfying them with regard to the contemplated
redistribution of seats in the House of Commons, for which a
separate bill was framed and introduced while the Franchise
Bill was yet pending. The Redistribution Bill passed the
Commons in May and the Lords in June, 1885.
W. Heaton,
The Three Reforms of Parliament,
chapter 6.
"In regard to electoral districts, the equalization, in other
words, the radical refashioning of electoral districts, having
about the same number of inhabitants, is carried out. For this
purpose, 79 towns, having less than 15,000 inhabitants, are
divested of the right of electing a separate member; 36 towns,
with less than 50,000, return only one member; 14 large towns
obtain an increase of the number of the members in proportion
to the population; 35 towns, of nearly 50,000, obtain a new
franchise. The counties are throughout parcelled-out into
'electoral districts' of about the like population, to elect
one member each. This single-seat system is, regularly,
carried out in towns, with the exception of 28 middle-sized
towns, which have been left with two members. The County of
York forms, for example, 26 electoral districts; Liverpool 9.
To sum up, the result stands thus:--the counties choose 253
members (formerly 187), the towns 237 (formerly 297). The
average population of the county electoral districts is now
52,800 (formerly 70,800); the average number of the town
electoral districts 52,700 (formerly 41,200). ... The number
of the newly-enfranchised is supposed, according to an average
estimate, to be 2,000,000."
Dr. R. Gneist,
The English Parliament in its Transformations,
chapter 9.
ALSO IN:
J. Murdoch,
History of Constitutional Reform in Great
Britain and Ireland,
pages 277-398.
H. Jephson,
The Platform,
chapter 23 (volume 2).
The following is the text of the "Third Reform Act," which is
entitled "The Representation of the People Act, 1884":
An Act to amend the Law relating to the Representation of
the People of the United Kingdom. [6th December, 1884.]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament
assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1. This Act may be cited as the Representation of the
People Act, 1884.
2. A uniform household franchise and a uniform lodger
franchise at elections shall be established in all counties
and boroughs throughout the United Kingdom, and every man
possessed of a household qualification or a lodger
qualification shall, if the qualifying premises be situate
in a county in England or Scotland, be entitled to be
registered as a voter, and when registered to vote at an
election for such county, and if the qualifying premises be
situate in a county or borough in Ireland, be entitled to
be registered as a voter, and when registered to vote at an
election for such county or borough.
3. Where a man himself inhabits any dwelling-house by
virtue of any office, service, or employment, and the
dwelling-house is not inhabited by any person under whom
such man serves in such office, service, or employment, he
shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act and of the
Representation of the People Acts to be an inhabitant
occupier of such dwelling-house as a tenant.
4. Subject to the saving in this Act for existing voters,
the following provisions shall have effect with reference
to elections:
(1.) A man shall not be entitled to be registered as a
voter in respect of the ownership of any rentcharge except
the owner of the whole of the tithe rentcharge of a
rectory, vicarage, chapelry, or benefice to which an
apportionment of tithe rentcharge shall have been made in
respect of any portion of tithes.
(2.) Where two or more men are owners either as joint
tenants or as tenants in common of an estate in any land or
tenement, one of such men, but not more than one, shall, if
his interest is sufficient to confer a qualification as a
voter in respect of the ownership of such estate, be
entitled (in the like cases and subject to the like
conditions as if he were the sole owner) to be registered
as a voter, and when registered to vote at an election.
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Provided that where such owners have derived their interest
by descent, succession, marriage, marriage settlement, or
will, or where they occupy the land or tenement, and are
bonâ fide engaged as partners carrying on trade or business
thereon, each of such owners whose interest is sufficient
to confer on him a qualification as a voter shall be
entitled (in the like cases and subject to the like
conditions as if he were sole owner) to be registered as a
voter in respect of such ownership, and when registered to
vote at an election, and the value of the interest of each
such owner where not otherwise legally defined shall be
ascertained by the division of the total value of the land
or tenement equally among the whole of such owners.
5. Every man occupying any land or tenement in a county or
borough in the United Kingdom of a clear yearly value of
not less than ten pounds shall be entitled to be registered
as a voter and when registered to vote at an election for
such county or borough in respect of such occupation
subject to the like conditions respectively as a man is, at
the passing of this Act, entitled to be registered as a
voter and to vote at an election for such county in respect
of the county occupation franchise, and at an election for
such borough in respect of the borough occupation
franchise.
6. A man shall not by virtue of this Act be entitled to be
registered as a voter or to vote at any election for a
county in respect of the occupation of any dwelling-house,
lodgings, land, or tenement, situate in a borough.
7. (1.) In this Act the expression "a household
qualification" means, as respects England and Ireland, the
qualification enacted by the third section of the
Representation of the People Act, 1867 [see comments
appended to this text], and the enactments amending or
affecting the same, and the said section and enactments so
far as they are consistent with this Act, shall extend to
counties in England and to counties and boroughs in
Ireland.
(2.) In the construction of the said enactments, as amended
and applied to Ireland, the following dates shall be
substituted for the dates therein mentioned, that is to say,
the twentieth day of July for the fifteenth day of July, the
first day of July for the twentieth day of July, and the
first day of January for the fifth day of January.
(3.) The expression "a lodger qualification" means the
qualification enacted, as respects England, by the fourth
section of the Representation of the People Act, 1867 [see
comments appended to this text], and the enactments amending
or affecting the same, and as respects Ireland, by the
fourth section of the Representation of the People (Ireland)
Act, 1868, and the enactments amending or affecting the
same, and the said section of the English Act of 1867, and
the enactments amending or affecting the same, shall, so far
as they are consistent with this Act, extend to counties in
England, and the said section of the Irish Act of 1868, and
the enactments amending or affecting the same, shall, so far
as they are consistent with this Act, extend to counties in
Ireland; and sections five and six and twenty-two and
twenty-three of the Parliamentary and Municipal Registration
Act, 1878, so far as they relate to lodgings, shall apply to
Ireland, and for the purpose of such application the
reference in the said section six to the Representation of
the People Act, 1867, shall be deemed to be made to the
Representation of the People (Ireland) Act, 1868, and in the
said section twenty-two of the Parliamentary and Municipal
Registration Act, 1878, the reference to section thirteen of
the Parliamentary Registration Act, 1843, shall be construed
to refer to the enactments of the Registration Acts in
Ireland relating to the making out, signing, publishing, and
otherwise dealing with the lists of voters, and the
reference to the Parliamentary Registration Acts shall be
construed to refer to the Registration Acts in Ireland, and
the following dates shall be substituted in Ireland for the
dates in that section mentioned, that is to say, the
twentieth day of July for the last day of July, and the
fourteenth day of July for the twenty-fifth day of July,
and the word "overseers" shall be construed to refer in a
county to the clerk of the peace, and in a borough to the
town clerk.
(4.) The expression "a household qualification" means, as
respects Scotland, the qualification enacted by the third
section of the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act,
1868, and the enactments amending or affecting the same,
and the said section and enactments shall, so far as they
are consistent with this Act, extend to counties in
Scotland, and for the purpose of the said section and
enactments the expression "dwelling-house" in Scotland
means any house or part of a house occupied as a separate
dwelling, and this definition of a dwelling-house shall be
substituted for the definition contained in section
fifty-nine of the Representation of the People (Scotland)
Act, 1868.
(5.) The expression "a lodger qualification" means, as
respects Scotland, the qualification enacted by the fourth
section of the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act,
1868, and the enactments amending or affecting the same,
and the said section and enactments, so far as they are
consistent with this Act, shall extend to counties in
Scotland.
(6.) The expression "county occupation franchise" means, as
respects England, the franchise enacted by the sixth
section of the Representation of the People Act, 1867 [see
comments appended to this text]; and, as respects Scotland,
the franchise enacted by the sixth section of the
Representation of the People (Scotland) Act, 1868; and, as
respects Ireland, the franchise enacted by the first
section of the Act of the session of the thirteenth and
fourteenth years of the reign of Her present Majesty,
chapter sixty-nine.
(7.) The expression "borough occupation franchise" means,
as respects England, the franchise enacted by the
twenty-seventh section of the Act of the session of the
second and third years of the reign of King William the
Fourth, chapter forty-five [see comments appended to this
text]; and as respects Scotland, the franchise enacted by
the eleventh section of the Act of the session of the
second and third years of the reign of King William the
Fourth, chapter sixty-five; and as respects Ireland the
franchise enacted by section five of the Act of the session
of the thirteenth and fourteenth years of the reign of Her
present Majesty, chapter sixty-nine, and the third section
of the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act, 1868.
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(8.) Any enactments amending or relating to the county
occupation franchise or 'borough occupation franchise other
than the sections in this Act in that behalf mentioned
shall be deemed to be referred to in the definition of the
county occupation franchise and the borough occupation
franchise in this Act mentioned.
8. (1.) In this Act the expression "the Representation of
the People Acts" means the enactments for the time being in
force in England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively
relating to the representation of the people, inclusive of
the Registration Acts as defined by this Act.
(2.) The expression "the Registration Acts" means the
enactments for the time being in force in England,
Scotland, and Ireland respectively, relating to the
registration of persons entitled to vote at elections for
counties and boroughs, inclusive of the Rating Acts as
defined by this Act.
(3.) The expressions "the Representation of the People
Acts" and "the Registration Acts" respectively, where used
in this Act, shall be read distributively in reference to
the three parts of the United Kingdom as meaning in the
case of each part the enactments for the time being in
force in that part.
(4.) All enactments of the Registration Acts which relate
to the registration of persons entitled to vote in boroughs
in England in respect of a household or a lodger
qualification, and in boroughs in Ireland in respect of a
lodger qualification, shall, with the necessary variations
and with the necessary alterations of precepts, notices,
lists, and other forms, extend to counties as well as to
boroughs.
(5.) All enactments of the Registration Acts which relate
to the registration in counties and boroughs in Ireland of
persons entitled to vote in respect of the county
occupation franchise and the borough occupation franchise
respectively, shall, with the necessary variations and with
the necessary alterations of precepts, notices, lists, and
other forms, extend respectively to the registration in
counties and boroughs in Ireland of persons entitled to
vote in respect of the household qualification conferred by
this Act.
(6.) In Scotland all enactments of the Registration Acts
which relate to the registration of persons entitled to
vote in burghs, including the provisions relating to dates,
shall, with the necessary variations, and with the
necessary alterations of notices and other forms, extend
and apply to counties as well as to burghs; and the
enactments of the said Acts which relate to the
registration of persons entitled to vote in counties shall,
so far as inconsistent with the enactments so applied, be
repealed: Provided that in counties the valuation rolls,
registers, and lists shall continue to be arranged in
parishes as heretofore.
9. (1.) In this Act the expression "the Rating Acts" means
the enactments for the time being in force in England,
Scotland, and Ireland respectively, relating to the placing
of the names of occupiers on the rate book, or other
enactments relating to rating in so far as they are
auxiliary to or deal with the registration of persons
entitled to vote at elections; and the expression "the
Rating Acts" where used in this Act shall be read
distributively in reference to the three parts of the
United Kingdom as meaning in the case of each part the Acts
for the time being in force in that part.
(2.) In every part of the United Kingdom it shall be the
duty of the overseers annually, in the months of April and
May, or one of them, to inquire or ascertain with respect
to every hereditament which comprises any dwelling-house or
dwelling-houses within the meaning of the Representation of
the People Acts, whether any man, other than the owner or
other person rated or liable to be rated in respect of such
hereditament, is entitled to be registered as a voter in
respect of his being an inhabitant occupier of any such
dwelling-house, and to enter in the rate book the name of
every man so entitled, and the situation or description of
the dwelling-house in respect of which he is entitled, and
for the purposes of such entry a separate column shall be
added to the rate book.
(3.) For the purpose of the execution of such duty the
overseers may serve on the person who is the occupier or
rated or liable to be rated in respect of such
hereditament, or on some agent of such person concerned in
the management of such hereditament, the requisition
specified in the Third Schedule of this Act requiring that
the form in that notice be accurately filled up and
returned to the overseers within twenty-one days after such
service; and if any such person or agent on whom such
requisition is served fails to comply therewith, he shall
be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
forty shillings, and any overseer who fails to perform his
duty under this section shall be deemed guilty of a breach
of duty in the execution of the Registration Acts, and
shall be liable to be fined accordingly a sum not exceeding
forty shillings for each default.
(4.) The notice under this section may be served in manner
provided by the Representation of the People Acts with
respect to the service on occupiers of notice of
non-payment of rates, and, where a body of persons,
corporate or unincorporate, is rated, shall be served on
the secretary or agent of such body of persons; and where
the hereditament by reason of belonging to the Crown or
otherwise is not rated, shall be served on the chief local
officer having the superintendence or control of such
hereditament.
(5.) In the application of this section to Scotland the
expression rate book means the valuation roll, and where a
man entered on the valuation roll by virtue of this section
inhabits a dwelling-house by virtue of any office, service,
or employment, there shall not be entered in the valuation
roll any rent or value against the name of such man as
applicable to such dwelling-house, nor shall any such man
by reason of such entry become liable to be rated in
respect of such dwelling-house.
(6.) The proviso in section two of the Act for the
valuation of lands and heritages in Scotland passed in the
session of the seventeenth and eighteenth years of the
reign of Her present Majesty chapter ninety-one, and
section fifteen of the Representation of the People
(Scotland) Act, 1868, shall be repealed: Provided that in
any county in Scotland the commissioners of supply, or the
parochial board of any parish, or any other rating
authority entitled to impose assessments according to the
valuation roll, may, if they think fit, levy such
assessments in respect of lands and heritages separately
let for a shorter period than one year or at a rent not
amounting to four pounds per annum in the same manner and
from the same persons as if the names of the tenants and
occupiers of such lands and heritages were not inserted in
the valuation roll.
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(7.) In Ireland where the owner of a dwelling-house is
rated instead of the occupier, the occupier shall
nevertheless be entitled to be registered as a voter, and
to vote under the same conditions under which an occupier
of a dwelling-house in England is entitled in pursuance of
the Poor Rate Assessment and Collection Act, 1869, and the
Acts amending the same, to be registered as a voter, and to
vote where the owner is rated, and the enactments referred
to in the First Schedule to this Act shall apply to Ireland
accordingly, with the modifications in that schedule
mentioned.
(8.) Both in England and Ireland where a man inhabits any
dwelling-house by virtue of any office, service, or
employment, and is deemed for the purposes of this Act and
of the Representation of the People Acts to be an
inhabitant occupier of such dwelling-house as a tenant, and
another person is rated or liable to be rated for such
dwelling-house, the rating of such other person shall for
the purposes of this Act and of the Representation of the
People Acts be deemed to be that of the inhabitant
occupier; and the several enactments of the Poor Rate
Assessment and Collection Act, 1869, and other Acts
amending the same referred to in the First Schedule to this
Act shall for those purposes apply to such inhabitant
occupier, and in the construction of those enactments the
word "owner" shall be deemed to include a person actually
rated or liable to be rated as aforesaid.